WEEK13 - Molding and Casting¶
This week is about molding and casting and so this page is mostly about test molds and different materials.
WEEK THIRTEEN ASSIGNMENT¶
| Assignments | Completed |
|---|---|
| GROUP | |
| - review the safety data sheets for each of your molding and casting materials, then make and compare test casts with each of them | DONE |
Overview¶
The Smooth-On Document Library holds all the Technical Bulletins and Safety Data Sheets of their products.
Mold Star 16 FAST (Platinum silicone) SORTA-Clear 37 (Water white translucent silicone) Smooth-Cast 300 (Ultra-low viscosity casting resin) Smooth-Cast 325 (ColorMatch Series plastics are urethane resin)
A quick comparison of the main features:
Test-casts¶
I used some Daiso chocolate molds for the material tests.
In the first epoxy cast, i realised that someone had mixed up the bottels in the box and that they had mixed up the activators for the white and clear epoxy. thats why it never fully hardened but stayed oddly squishy (but thankfully not tacky) and it also caused alot of bubbles.
UV RESIN CASTING TEST (AUSTRALIA)¶
UV Resin is a synthetic resin that sets by exposing it to UV radiation from either a UV lamp or natural sunlight. As such you should work with it indoors, away from windows and direct sunlight.
The UV resin available in time for the assignment was a generic brand that did not come with much information or a full datasheet.
Although it was advertised as non-toxic I still made sure to work with it in a well ventilated area, although I did not notice any fumes or strong odours coming from it.
I also made sure to wear gloves when handling the unset resin.
I decided to test the resin with pigment added to it (the pigments came in a pack with the resin). The pigments were liquid, similar to food colouring in consistency, but even more highly pigmented, a small amount went a long way.
I used a pendant silicone mold to cast the UV resin in. When I was happy with the swirl of the pigment I put the mold under a UV lamp. It set in 4 minutes as recommended on the box.
I am happy with how the result turned out. I found the UV resin easy and quick to use, it is also great that you get plenty of time to play around with it before setting, aso you control when setting happens.
